Vol. 80/No. 31      August 22, 2016

 

Migrant workers in Saudi Arabia face mass layoffs

 
The plight of tens of thousands of Pakistani, Indian, Filipino and other migrant workers stranded in Saudi Arabia is a microcosm of the impact of the worldwide capitalist economic depression on working people. Construction companies stopped paying their wages seven months ago and near the end of July cut off food, water and electricity to many of the camps where they live.

After the drop in oil prices from more than $100 a barrel in July 2014 to less than $45 a barrel today, the Saudi monarchy continued to maintain high production levels at a loss, determined to deal blows to competition from the increased flow of U.S. oil produced by fracking and from expanded production in Russia.

The government delayed payments to construction contractors and slashed spending on construction by some 50 percent.

The Saudi Binladin Group — the country’s largest construction outfit — reportedly laid off 50,000 workers. Thousands more were thrown out of work by competitor Saudi Oger, a company that received an award from Forbes magazine as one of the Top Companies in the Arab World in 2015.

Three million Indians, 1.8 million Pakistanis and 1.2 million Filipinos are among the 30 percent of the country’s population who are migrants. These workers comprise three-quarters of the workforce for private companies.

The nonpayment of wages has a huge impact in the workers’ native countries. Indian workers sent $11 billion in remittances home last year. Remittances make up 29 percent of Nepal’s gross domestic product.

Migrant workers have few rights in Saudi Arabia. They can’t change jobs without permission of their employer. They can’t get exit visas without a “no objection” permit from the boss. Nor can they legally remain in the country without an iqama — a resident permit — from their employer. The layoffs left thousands in no-man’s land.

“We can’t even leave our rooms,” Adam Ali, 26, a plumber from India living in Jeddah, told the Wall Street Journal. If caught without an iqama the workers face fines or jail.

After word got out in the media that food was cut off at some camps where Indian workers live, the Indian government intervened. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Saudi regime has now agreed to provide free medical attention and food to the stranded workers, to allow some to seek employment with other companies, to issue exit visas and provide plane fare home for those who want to leave, India’s NDTV reported Aug. 4. The workers would be allowed to register their claims of unpaid wages and bonuses with the Labour Office of Saudi Arabia.

“They promised to send us back home, but didn’t give any assurance of our wages,” a former worker for Saudi Oger told Scroll, an Indian news website. “How can we go home without a penny in our pocket?”
 
 
Related articles:
On the Picket Line
 
 
 
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